Are we seeing the light - is this an opportunity?

[JimH]

Government invites public input to form a marine policy for Ireland

The launch this month of Our Ocean Wealth – Towards an Integrated Marine Plan for Ireland, has been welcomed across maritime circles. In a tightly choreographed move, this is the first time an Irish government has sought public opinion to feed into a long overdue integrated marine policy for Ireland, set to launch in mid summer.
Commenting in the foreword, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny throws his weight behind the new initiative declaring that ‘for too long our maritime resources have been a blind spot in our national focus. Whether we are from urban, rural or coastal communities we all have a real interest in the social, cultural and economic impact of our coasts and seas’.


He added he wants to see Ireland ‘reconnect to the sea in a way that harnesses the ideas, innovation and knowledge of all our people, at home and abroad. I want to see us setting out to secure for ourselves and our children the social, cultural and economic benefits that our marine assets can deliver’.


Exclusive interview with Gery Flynn at Inshore Ireland

The marine and freshwater environment publication

go to the official site Our Ocean Wealth http://www.ouroceanwealth.ie/Pages/default.aspx

[Donnyboy1]

good find!

[John D]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

I'm going to abandon my normal political pessimism and I'm going to feel extremely positive and hopeful about this.

I think we should all at least log onto the website address given in the post and have a look around.

If there's an opportunity whereby any of us can have any sort of impact into the way our marine environment is managed then we really need to grab it with both hands!

Yours hopefully,
John D.

[yappo]

The consultation period is only open until end of March so I better get busy downloading and reading.
Not sure how much notice will be paid to our input but hey if we don't try we can't afford to be moaning when things start to go wrong.


Yappo

[twinkle]

would a petition from this site which has 4500 members streghten any proposal put forward help.opposed to a thousand people putting single proposals forward maybe a think tank with members to decide what needs changing

[Aurelien]

would a petition from this site which has 4500 members streghten any proposal put forward help.opposed to a thousand people putting single proposals forward maybe a think tank with members to decide what needs changing

This is an excellent idea

[JimH]

From page seven -

6. Dedicated angling tourism accounted for173,000 visitors in 2010 and spending of €58 million.

this doesnt include revenue generated 'internally' by anglers and angling activity

[twinkle]

From page sev

this doesnt include revenue generated 'internally' by anglers and angling activity

any ideas how much this brings in jim? would have to be around the same again with the amount of expenses attached to anything marine.this also will bring some good ideas from our quater perhaps some investment in conservation some new man made reefs placed around the coast the amount of revenue this brings to areas is huge see http://www.bournemouthreef.com/artificial-reef.aspx this is just one there are hundreds .also maybe reseeding all the musselbeds from killiney to arklow that were destroyed in the last 10yrs this will do 2 things improve the water quality in these areas and promote healthty fish stocks.and perhaps the most important stop this dredging there continueing to rip up the seabeds afew hundred yards off our shore line killing everything. just a few ideas to be going on with

[doggie3131]

i kept a record last year of what i spent,up till 31-12-2011,
bait...1040
terminal tackle...417
rods and reels....620
travel expences...200
b&b....240
eats drinks bits.....436
total.....2953 euros..,....and that does not include a fishing holiday abroad....

[Davy Murdoch]

i kept a record last year of what i spent,up till 31-12-2011,
bait...1040
terminal tackle...417
rods and reels....620
travel expences...200
b&b....240
eats drinks bits.....436
total.....2953 euros..,....and that does not include a fishing holiday abroad....

Interesting to see it broke down like that....
Anyone any idea how many anglers in Ireland(north and south)

If we had 100,000 anglers spending the same as doggie then thats 295,000,000 euro

I wouldn`t spend as much as that unless i`ve bought a new rod or reel that year but i still recon i`d spend £1500-£2000 a year normally...maybe a bit more depending on how many fishing hols i`ll take.

[JohnQ]

From page seven -

6. Dedicated angling tourism accounted for173,000 visitors in 2010 and spending of €58 million.

this doesnt include revenue generated 'internally' by anglers and angling activity

Hi Jim, Thanks for highlighting this opportunity but your figure for the value of angling tourism seems a bit low. I could only find preliminary figures for 2010 but there are much more comprehensive figures for 2009. http://www.failteireland.ie/FailteCorp/ ... _544KB.pdf
In 2009 132,000 tourists engaged in angling spending €105 million. There are also figures for which types of angling people participated in. Sea angling was by far and away the largest at 28%, Coarse 19% and Game 14%. There is a figure of 39% for unspecified. If we divide this unspecified figure equally between all diciplines we come to a figure of 40% for sea angling tourism or over 41 million Euros. To put this into perspective the total figure for equestrian tourism is €27 million and yet every time you see an advert or brochure for Irish tourism it has somebody on horseback. Why is our angling not promoted in the same way?
There are no figures available for the spend of Irish anglers. While there are many more resident anglers than tourist anglers we tend to spend less. I still think it is reasonable to suggest that Irish anglers spend an equivalent amount to tourists given our greater numbers. This could make a total of €80 million for the total value of sea angling to the Irish economy. Not bad!
In the "Our Ocean Wealth" documents sea angling barely gets a mention and not even a single photo. The bias against sea angling continues even here! We really need to make our voices heard on this one.

[JimH]

For clarification this is NOT my figure as stated in the post its a direct quote taken from the download available from the site - page seven item 6

thanks
Jim

[JimH]

For the complete 52 page source and derivation of numbers from Galway university go here

Overview of Ireland’s ocean and coastal economy

http://www.nuigalway.ie/semru/documents ... _small.pdf

Note in the link it refers to 'small' - there must also a finer detailed or 'BIG' report

[JohnQ]

For the complete 52 page source and derivation of numbers from Galway university go here

Overview of Ireland’s ocean and coastal economy

http://www.nuigalway.ie/semru/documents ... _small.pdf

Note in the link it refers to 'small' - there must also a finer detailed or 'BIG' report

Jim,
It's very disapointing that in this report about Irelands ocean economy, sea angling barely gets a mention. What is even more disapointing is that the only photo of angling in there is of some people flyfishing on a freshwater lake. Surely they could have found a photo of a sea angling scene.
As for the different values for angling tourism. Failte Ireland's figure of €105 million would be much more usefull to us. I just think we should not sell ourselves short.

[twinkle]

we need to get a figure of how much monies is put into the exchequer by sea anglers per annum and then put this with proposals and make sure our voices are heard.if the figures above are a guide. our community are possibly doing more for the countrys coffers than the whole commercial fleet.

[JohnQ]

we need to get a figure of how much monies is put into the exchequer by sea anglers per annum and then put this with proposals and make sure our voices are heard.if the figures above are a guide. our community are possibly doing more for the countrys coffers than the whole commercial fleet.

For what it is worth, every other sector involved in the marine economy will be putting the highest figure possible forward in this consultation process to draw attention to their area.
I don't know if Failte Ireland's figures for angling are correct or not. It does'nt really matter. They heve been published and are there to be used.

[JimH]

Once again for clarification purposes the post was created in order to highlight the governments intentions regarding a marine policy - I consider this an opportunity to indicate many things that are relevant to sea angling.

From the document available as a download 'Seeking your views' I quote
Having read the background material do you have any specific suggestions / ideas/ comments on what we can do to realise the potential of our ocean wealth?

I suugest if you do have any specific suggestions / ideas/ comments (or interpretation of data) then join the discussion forum available on the site.

The dissapointment and frustration (once again) that I feel at the glaring and obvious omissions regarding sea angling is the main reason I brought this information to the attention of the forum.

[Creep]

i kept a record last year of what i spent,up till 31-12-2011,
bait...1040
terminal tackle...417
rods and reels....620
travel expences...200
b&b....240
eats drinks bits.....436
total.....2953 euros..,....and that does not include a fishing holiday abroad....

I know for a fact my travel expense so far this year have been huge over €400 (been to Cork 4, times and wexford 4 times, wicklow and greystones I have lost count on)
I recently spent €600+ on a new rod -reel set-up
tackle and terminal tackle i just dont want to know
Boat trips planned this year are €300+
Bait is the only area i seem to be making a slight saving..
as for food and drink when i bring the kids out with me, it triples in cost!!

and considering there are at the very least 100's of dads doing the same around the country?!?!!
its an expensive ol hobby

I would say the serious angler spend at least €1500-€5000 on fishing per annum

[MackDublin]

For the complete 52 page source and derivation of numbers from Galway university go here

Overview of Ireland’s ocean and coastal economy

http://www.nuigalway.ie/semru/documents ... _small.pdf

Note in the link it refers to 'small' - there must also a finer detailed or 'BIG' report

Jim,
It's very disapointing that in this report about Irelands ocean economy, sea angling barely gets a mention. What is even more disapointing is that the only photo of angling in there is of some people flyfishing on a freshwater lake. Surely they could have found a photo of a sea angling scene.
As for the different values for angling tourism. Failte Ireland's figure of €105 million would be much more usefull to us. I just think we should not sell ourselves short.

Interesting thread, I read it for the first time today.

John,
I think you are significantly wide of the mark here in your reaction to this post. It feels like you are attaching responsibilty for the contents of the document to JimH when he is merely bringing the document to our attention. In your initial post on this thread you state "Hi Jim, Thanks for highlighting this opportunity but your figure for the value of angling tourism seems a bit low". In another post in this thread you again address JimH and say "I just think we should not sell ourselves short"

The figures/details belong to the document which was created by the government!

Fair play Jim for bringing the document to our attention. John, the only people that will sell ourselves short will be yourself and the rest of us if we limit our submissions/corrections on this document to this forum!

The question that JimH asked in his opening title was "is this an opportunity?"

I say yes it is. There is an opportunity to make a submission and an opportunity to make views known on their forum. If their figures are inaccurate or figures exist to strengthen the hand of sea angling more (Failte Ireland) than we need to post these figures in a submission to the creator of the document 'Our Ocean Wealth'.

To come on here and push figures at the messenger (in this case JimH) falls significantly short of the mark.

For my own tuppence worth, I think twinkles petition is an excellent idea. Mods, can you set this up?
I will also make a submission and get involved in discussion on their forum. If we are to make an impact it is in their arena that we will do it. I think sometimes people are frightened at the thoughts of what needs to go into a submission. Even if people were to post something like Creeps spend breakdown in a year I think would be an excellent start.

Jim, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Lastly it would be comforting to know if the various sea fishing organisations in this country are aware of this and likely to make a submission? Anybody know if they are aware of it?

[Tanglerat]

For my own tuppence worth, I think twinkles petition is an excellent idea. Mods, can you set this up?

Dunno. Possibly. Have to ask & clear it with Site Admin first.

More to the point - what exactly is the petition going to ask for? Specifically, point by point? Anybody care to make a stab at it? Or anyone want to start the ball rolling on a brainstorming session?